Breaking gender stereotypes: Encouraging more women to study - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Gabriela Ramos Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20 OECD

Breaking gender stereotypes:

Encouraging more women to study Science, Technology and Mathematics

23rd WiN Global Annual Conference? Vienna, 24-28 August 2015

25 50 75 100 All fields Education Health and welfare Humanities and arts Life sciences Social sciences, business and law Agriculture Services Mathematics and statistics Physical sciences Engineering, manufacturing and construction Computing

%

Men and women do not study and start their careers in the same fields

Source: OECD (2014) Education at a Glance 2014, Table A3.3

Percentage of tertiary qualifications awarded to women in tertiary-type A and advanced research programs, by field of education (2012, OECD average)

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

I am just not good at mathematics I get good marks in mathematics I learn mathematics quickly I have always believed that mathematics is one of my best subjects In my mathematics class, I understand even the most difficult work

%

Boys Girls

15-year-old girls are less confident than boys in their ability to do mathematics ….

Source: OECD (2015) The ABC of Gender Equality in Education ,Figure 3.9

OECD average

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Learning advanced school science topics would be easy for me I can usually give good answers to test questions on school science topics I learn school science topics quickly School science topics are easy for me When I am being taught school science, I can understand the concepts very well I can easily understand new ideas in school science

%

Boys Girls

… and in their ability to learn science (despite equal proficiency in science tests)

Source: OECD (2015) The ABC of Gender Equality in Education ,Figure 3.8

OECD average

33 30 33 30 25 24 22 14 7 11

10 20 30 40 50 60

Hungary (28) Portugal (27) Chile (28) Italy (24) Croatia (18) Germany (19) Mexico (21) Hong Kong-China (13) Korea (7) Macao-China (10)

Boys Girls

%

Parents are more likely to expect sons rather than daughters to enter STEM careers – even when they perform equally well in school

Source: OECD (2015) The ABC of Gender Equality in Education ,Figure 5.1

Gender gap for boys and girls with similar results in mathematics, reading and science performance

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Percentage of students whose parents expect that they will work in STEM occupations

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Jordan 24 Poland 20 Slovenia 15 Mexico 17 Colombia 17 Chile 16 Portugal 15 Spain 14 Slovak Republic 13 Latvia 15 Chinese Taipei 13 Thailand 18 Italy 13 Russian Federation 12 Turkey 14 Czech Republic 13 Norway 13 Greece 13 Hungary 12 Canada 11 Lithuania 12 Belgium 12 Argentina 12 Estonia 14 France 10 OECD average 11 Ireland 11 Serbia 11 Brazil 11 Croatia 10 Romania 11 Luxembourg 10 United States 9 Australia 9 Uruguay 11 Israel 11 Sweden 10 Japan 9 Austria 9 Switzerland 9 Tunisia 10 Germany 9 Iceland 11 Hong Kong-China 8 Denmark 8 United Kingdom 7 Bulgaria 12 Korea 8 New Zealand 8 Indonesia 9 Finland 6 Macao-China 6 Kyrgyzstan 5 Azerbaijan 5 Netherlands 5 Montenegro 5

Boys Girls

%

As a result, far more boys than girls expect to have a career in engineering or computing

Percentage

• f all

students who expect a career in engineering

• r

computing

Source: OECD (2015) The ABC of Gender Equality in Education

Percentage of students who expect a career in engineering or computing

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

The psychologist at the call center and the mathematician on the trading floor

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Note: Cross-country averages. Source: “The Causes and Consequences of Field-of-Study Mismatch: An Analysis Using PIAAC” (Montt, 2015), based on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (2012)

(2) Teacher training and education science (3) Humanities, languages and arts (4) Social sciences, business and law (5) Science, mathematics and computing (6) Engineering, manufacturing and construction (7) Agriculture and veterinary (8) Health and welfare (9) Service

For a given group of graduates by field For a given group of workers by occupation

>70% of graduates from humanities, languages and arts end up working in another sector

What can be done to help attract and retain more women in STEM fields and men in caring professions?

• Attracting:

– Review educational resources (textbooks, etc.) to avoid stereotyped representations. – Help teachers become aware of gender stereotypes in teaching. – Promote female role models in STEM fields and men in caring professions, and encourage more women to opt for these disciplines. – Ensure that boys and girls acquire better information about educational and career pathways through orientation programmes. – Help girls acquire hands-on experience about study and career opportunities in STEM.

• Retaining:

– Ensure that research grants allow for flexibility relative to the researchers’ life events. – Provide paid parental leave and access to childcare to researchers.

• Employers in the STEM field can :

– Ensure fair access for women to career development opportunities, training and sponsoring. – Provide training against implicit gender biases. – Make gender diversity a corporate priority.